The National tribune., 1887-06-16
SUNDAY MEDITATION.


Some one has dubbed the apparatus the ma
chinery. One always feels he is treading on
delicate ground when he deals with this sub
jcct, and measure of bOldness Is needed by
the writer. With some ideas as to this matter,
we shall proceed. As one suggestion follows
another. we may not be able in every case to
affirm, Thus saith the Lord" But if held
strictly TO this rule we could have little to say
on many an important subject The whole
Sunday school enterprise as conducted in our
day, is quite modern. While it is not anti
scriptural, it IS not the most apparent scriptural
institution. Had it been il would not have
escaped the attention of the Fathers and Re-
formers and have been left to the 18th and 18th
centuries for organization aud development.
This is the DispensatiOn of Principles. 1t
was well the Hebrews in the babyhood Of the
Church had their ritual fully prescribed. The
more mature Church of the New Testament is
lett with some greater freedom in deviSing
forms. The Preface to the Book of Common
Prayer for the Episcopal Church in the United
States begins thus: at is most invaluable
part of that blessed liberty, wherewith Christ
hath made us free, that in his worship different
forms and usages may without ohense be al
lowed, provided the substance of the Faith be
kept entire" Our limit of freedom is the vio-
latiOn OF the Scriptures. What is required of
US Is not so much that we be Bible Christians
as that we DO not anti-Bibe Christians $50
called.) So, as to ritual, we are not so much to
seek to have it according to the Bible, but be
sure il be not contrary to the Bible. Readers
should remember this principle as we proceed
Do not ask whether items of apparatus speci-
fed be biblical. Probably they will not be.
The apparatus Of an artisan is his tools; Of a
house. its furniture; of battle, instruments Of
war. Webster says an apparatus is " a COM
plete set of instruments or utensils for per-
forming any operation or experiment" By
the apparatus of the Sunday school we mean
all tho external appliances used in the work of
the institutiOn-its tools and instruments.
The spiritualities are entirely different They
are results to be sought by the apparatus. What
we speak of is like the carpenters seaffolding.
which IS torn down and tossed away as useless
after the structure is completed. The tools of
the Sunday-schoOl are as the plOw to the farmer.
No agriculturist would ever buy tool for its
own sake. 1t cannot be eaten. 1t has no life.
The apparatus is not the end itself, but simply
an aid in accomplishing the end. As workers
we differ from God in that we always require
the presence of an instrument. There is nothing
necessarily between God and effect. So there
is a call for Sunday-schOol apparatus. Then
there is n vast difference in tools. Some are
dull, heavy, clumsy; others sharp, effective.
There is chance for choice in Sunday school
instrumentalities.
1t is never so agreeable to discuss the exter-
nails Of any religious enterprise. About these
there is great difference of opinion. Hence, it
is impossible to deal with the tools and meet
approval on all hands. The writer runs a
gantlet, and is sure of blows on one side or the
other. The first obstacle he meets is prejudice.
If he do not favor all the modern inventions in
Sunday school apparatus, he is guilty of fogeism
lis called an ancient-is thought to have
rattling bones, and believed a good subject for
burial. III he urge the adoption of new meas
ures, he is styled an innovatOr-an iconOclast-
q radical.
Another great danger to an advocate of
modern implements is the charge Of formality.
Some have wondrous antipathy to ritualism.
Too much form in our Sunday-school," they
say, land by and by there Will be too much
ritual in our Church services"
The writer who insists on drawing the lines
between extremes, and points out safe middle
way Is, c. g., situated like the author who would
discuss the proper limitations of diet. If he
plead for too great abste miousness, he is
thought fit candidate for recluse life. We
would not wonder if, in little while, we saw
him practicing all the notifications and
rigidity prescribed by ST. Basil If, on the
other hand, he commend mirth and affirm there
is nothing better for a man than to eat, drink
and be merry, Zee, 3: l5,) we expect to see
him giving loose reins to every appetite, and,
by running his constitution, filling an early
neither court ascetcsm nor WOO sensualism.
He must walk between Zeno and Epicurus, look
ing at neither philosopher. He must advocate
neither stoicism nor Epcurianism. Even if
careful to avoid both, he will not please all.
He will be situated like st. Paul at Athens
some calling him q babbler, and others account
ing him the originator of new philo-
Sophy. (Acts, II: 15) Some declared Christ
was an ascetic; others, that he was q glutton.
of IL Go Ss,,,
day-school apparatus, incurs prejudice or is
thought formal. If one deal with the ends to
be sought by the tools in this Christian work,
there is general unanimity, and that specially Y
among all persons ranked rs evangelie. There
is no fearful course through which to sail be-
tween Scylla and Charybdis. Out here Ulysses
is safe.
Another difficulty in discussing the tools in
the Sunday-school shop. is the fact that all
these eexternalsare necessarily subject to change,
while the end of our Sunday-school work, to
wit the mental aud spiritual training of the
scholars, must always remain uniform in
character. The instruction of the school must
never vary. The teacher of one century, so
far as subject-matter is concerned, could as well
instruct in any succeeding century. No i'm
proyement is to hoped as to facts to be taught.
On the other hand, we must expect great
changes in apparatus-great differences OF
opinion among the succeeding generations
great diversity of practice. The Sunday
school rs such is quite modern. 1t has not vet
fully developed, nor has it yet found its true
and lasting place in the Church. Thus new
and not fully tried, it would be difficult to
furnish an outline for fixed and universal
apparatus. The Scriptures are silent on this
subject. And even granted we could lay down
the plans for an apparatus SO simple and so
adapted to its design as To meet no criticism,
we are not sure that then our labor on this
subject would be completed. Apparatus is
necessarily changeabe, and hence must con-
sIantly be subject of agitation.
There are two causes:
l. Apparatus for Sunday y-school like that for
any other purpose, must improve. This is
specially so in the early days for its demand
One plan must yield To another. The old tool
must be thrown away and replaced by another
more perfect and better adapted to its work
=. Ritualistic apparatus will always remain
unsettled and arguabIe Specially with chill
dren there is call for modification to relieve
from moEotony. We have to study to interest the
mind when it rs most tighty. The instruction
must not vary. The only chance for yieldable-
ness is in methods.
"New occasions teach new duties Time make an.
cient good uncouth
They must upward still, and onward who would
keep abreast of truth.
Io, before us CLEANS her campfresl We ourselves
must pilgrims be.
Laneh our Mayflower and steer boldly thro' the
desperate Winter sea-
Nor attempt the Futures portal with the Past.
blood rusted key"
Truth is the same forever. Rites, ceremonies
forms, methods may fluctuate.
One caution must never be forgotten as to ex
Il Tor .af -.